So I have a 7 moonth old morkie(yorkie/maltese) almost 8 months... and since it is finally getting nice out my mom wants me to train him to go to the door when he has to go to the bathroom because I have been using puppy pads since it was winter... and I don't have a fence in my backyard... but my brother told me just to let him go without the leash that he won't run away.. so I let him go in the backyard and e was righr he didn't go anywhere he just ran around and I threw him his ball a couple times... he fallowa he everywhere too I went in the front yard with his toy he fallowed me... but I just want to know should I keep doing this.. or should I still be afarid he will run away.
Thanks to all who answer.

Keep the same ritual. These little dogs are not exactly eager to run off and he knows you are his mom, so it's a good thing that you are training him this way. It really is a good idea that you are housebreaking him, I hate a dog using those pads. They can develop bad habits.

Personally, I would not let him out the door without being leashed or fenced. Sure, 99% of the time things will probably be OK. But that 1% of the time, when something makes him decide to run off, do you want to deal with the possibility that he gets permanently lost, attacks or is attacked by another animal, runs in front of a car, etc? This handout is given to new greyhound owners by my adoption group: Trust - A Deadly Disease [Adopt a Greyhound] (http://www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/advice/trust.html) Read it and consider what you are potentially setting yourself up for.